Yes2ScotRef Campaign…

December 6, 2017

By David Patterson - scotland

When Angus Robertson stood at the podium at the SNP Conference in October and announced that the second Scottish Referendum would take place before 2021, his statement was met with a cheer and an applause. Optimism filled the room and excitement ensued us all.

There was another emotion that hit us all that day, and that was determination. Having lost the first Scottish Referendum by a small margin, with the no voters of 2,001,926 (55.3%) and the yes voters of 1,617,989 (44.7%). Many would say this is a massive margin but it’s not.

There are currently over 4 million people registered to vote in Scotland and over 1 million who are not eligible to vote.

With another Scottish Referendum immenent, we look inward to find out what we could have done differently to 2014. I’ll be honest with you. Yes, I voted yes in 2014 but I was not hands on with campagning, nor was I vocal in my vision for a better Scotland. I confined myself to speaking about it with my Dad and stayed out the realm of politics.

What happened when the no vote won, changed my desire and enthusiasm forever. It was then I signed up to become a member of the SNP and it was then I chose to attend local branch meetings, while putting my name forward for any active duties.

I have two kids now and they’re at the forefront of my desire and determination to secure a yes vote for them. I think we can create change. We, right now have the power to do something special for our kids, our grandkids and future generations to come. If we give it our all, who knows what can happen. We owe it to them to give it a bloody good go!

Since October, like the rest of you. Independence has been playing more on my mind. I’ve been writing blogs and doing a bit of active duties here and there. But is that enough? No, to be honest it isn’t.
They say that when you think about something often enough, it starts to take over your mind, your dreams and most of all, your life. I feel that this is the case with the independence referendum.

We all look back at 2014 and wish we had did more. It was a once in a lifetime shot, or so we thought. Now we have a chance to put right those wrongs. This is, in all seriousness, our last attempt. We need to be ready, be prepared and able to cover all bases.

When I lay in bed just a few days ago. I had an unusual dream. It was a detailed vision of a campaign on a massive scale. There were thousands of us. Instead of flags and microphones for a march through Glasgow, we had leaflets, clipboards and were wearing yellow jackets with the word ‘YES’ on the back.

We all pre-arranged to meet up in the City of Glasgow. We took a few weeks off work and took the bull by the horns. After meeting in Glasgow, we set off to campaign all over Scotland. We reached 95-100% of the electorate. We spoke to households all over the Country, many people had no idea what an Independent Scotland could do or what it looked like.

We put visions forward for people to think about. They saw this massive campaign as a show of strength and resilience. They welcomed it with open arms and when the vote came in to effect, we won.

When I wrote about my dream on Twitter and Facebook, I had an idea that others had the same visions, but when we all spoke about making this a reality, my enthusiasm and determination was reignited again. The passion was back and I can see the same passion in others. It’s something Unionists don’t have. Togetherness, passion and determination.

Today, as I write this article, I’m also writing letters to Scottish Government Ministers in the hope they can back this campaign. If we get in touch with all the Yes movements out there and set up the foundations, we can put this into a reality. The people of Scotland have more power than we can imagine. If we all work together and take action. Change tactics from 2014 and work together, maybe take a few weeks off work and go on a journey together, then just think what could happen.

If we take the time for us all to meet up in the 7 cities across Scotland and work our way outward to towns and rural areas on a 2-3 week campaign trail, setting up sponsorships and obtaining funding and the backing of The National newspaper, Independence Magazine, iScot and many more, we can really bring this to reality. We can have meetings days/nights before with public speakers. Maybe MP’S, MSP’s will join us on this grand adventure. There are so many variables to this challenge that makes it exciting. We have the power but as soon as we don’t take action then we’ve lost that power. Right now it’s in our hands.

I understand that there may be difficult situations and many may not agree with some of the methods that are put forward but that’s whats great about it. We have time on our side and if we start the foundations early, we can propose a plan that will be sustainable.
I feel the passion and determination is back amongst us. We owe it to our kids, our grandkids and our family members being hit worst by Tory austerity to do this. Give it our best shot and re-write history. We can be a massive part of change. I understand there will be people that are more skeptical about it. It’s never been done before but we can only try. If we fail to prepare, then we should prepare to fail.